ESOCS Devotional 24 July 2025 – How Strong is Your Faith?
MEMORY VERSE: “Because of the crowd, however, they could not get the man to Him. So they made a hole in the roof right above the place where Jesus was. When they had made an opening, they let the man down, lying on his mat.” Mark 2:4 GNB
TEXT: MARK 2:1-12
And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
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I am moved to initialize this write-up with the question – How strong is your faith as a believer in Christ Jesus? Moreover, what is faith? In the words of Apostle Paul as recorded in Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Strong faith equips us to persevere and forge on – even in the face of severe, discouraging circumstances.
In our text, the friends of the paralyzed man refused to be discouraged by the mammoth crowd. In their desperation, they even resolved to make a hole through the roof to lower the man just at the feet of Jesus. What a strong exercise of faith? On seeing their faith, the Lord Jesus simply said to the paralyzed man, “Son thy sin be forgiven thee” (v. 5). And in verse 9: “Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk.”
What with the case of the woman with the issue of blood for twelve years? (Mark 5:25-29). Her pains and disgrace of several years ended miraculously through her exercise of extraordinary faith. In Matthew 8:7-13, when Jesus promised to come to the Centurion’s house to heal the servant, the Centurion stopped Him. The man’s faith was so strong that he did not want to bother the Lord to come visiting his home: “… but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed.” His faith was established and the Lord was impressed beyond measure (Matthew 8:10).
Child of God, when in trouble don’t run from pillar to post, looking for non-existent miracles. Only trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, pray fervently, and do aright. His presence is ever available through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Always stand still, to see the salvation of the Lord.
CHALLENGES
- A faithless Christian is like an empty calabash on top sea. The water carries it wherever it pleases.
PRAYER POINT
- Lord Jesus, help build my faith.
FURTHER READING: Amos 2:1-16; Amos 3:1-15; Mark 2:15-28
ESOCS Devotional 24 July 2025
